As the first Miles book following on from the events of The Vor Game (in the largely chronological order I'm using), it is honestly a bit of a disappointment. Of the five books I've read so far, it's the first that doesn't feel like it moves the story forward in some kind of way, the first to not really tell me anything about its central character I don't already know. Miles and Ivan go to the planet Cetaganda, and of course find themselves embroiled in political subterfuge, plus also investigating a murder. It's fun enough, but I didn't feel like it had a strong thematic or character spine undergirding it, nothing was holding it together other than the political plot—and honestly I don't really care about the political disposition of Cetaganda, even if it does hypothetically mean war with Barryar.

So far, the Vorkosigan books are often at their best when considering cultural clashes, but I got little sense of that in this book even though it ought to be rife with it; in the rigid, ossified, stratified society of Cetaganda, one might think Miles could see a mirror to his own society. (And indeed, the cover implies such an image.) But I did not see such a thing really presented in the actual book.

Of course, it's a Vorkosigan book by Bujold, so it has good action, fun jokes, nice moments of characterization, and all comes together well. But it's the first book in the series that has felt disposable, that hasn't felt like a story that needed to be told. One knows she could do more.

A este me ha costado más entrar, aunque sigue teniendo al Miles inteligente que se mete en lios casi sin pretenderlo.

Lo bueno es que aún con un principio algo mas flojo al tener que poner en situación respecto a la política de Cetaganda, el libro va acelerando el ritmo hasta un final que te mantiene enganchado pagina tras pagina. ( )

Cetaganda is another exciting installment of the Hugo-award winning adventures of Miles Vorkosigan. It deals with genetic cloning,stark political realities, and snarky characters (cough cough *Ivan*).

Miles Vorokosigan (as well as his cousin Ivan) are on a diplomatic mission to represent their home planet at the funeral of the dowager empress of the Cetaganda empire when an encounter with an assailant leaves him with a piece of computer software. This proves to be a bogus duplicate of a key to the Cetagandan genome, which each new empress manipulates to produce offspring. With the help of a member of Cetaganda's matriarchal ruling haut, Miles and his cousin Ivan dodge inventive assassination attempts to determine which of the empire's eight governors has tried to pin this "theft" on them in the hope of usurping control of the genome.

Bujold addresses, as always, timeless issues of human identity through the personal dramas of her characters and asks big questions about the nature of genetic destiny. Bujold does magical things with worldbuilding here - focusing solely on the world of Cetaganda (she truly made this world feel otherworldly). As usual, the characterization is sharp. Miles is forced to play detective in an alien culture and his own shortcomings both his personality and physical nature appear to be his foil. And Ivan, of course, is too busy with the noble females which is not only a diplomatic no-no but helps to blindside the investigation.

This might not be my favorite in the series but it is still quite enjoyable!
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An enjoyably weird political thriller. ( )

Miles Vorkosigan does a whodunnit; another nice evolution of this character. This is a solid and enjoyable read, but it didn't grab me as hard as the others in the series. Convoluted and a little light on action, but a solid 3.5 stars. ( )